Dungeons and Dragons has so many online resources but does it sometimes feel like you need a dictionary to understand them, if you’re a new player? Don’t worry; Maggie is here.

Picture the scene. You’re new to DnD and you go online to learn about this wonderful game, eager to fill your head with all the wisdom and knowledge the internet can feed to you. The trouble is, on every website you visit, people are talking with codes and acronyms, saying things you don’t understand. We’ve all been there. Having a thriving internet community surrounding the game is great but it can feel a little bit exclusive if you don’t know what they’re talking about. Read on and learn, young one.

First of all, don’t listen to old people on the internet who try to patronise you by calling you things like ‘young one’.

One of the acronyms you might read is RAW. This means ‘rules as written’ and it’s a way of saying ‘by the exact rules of the game, as defined in the Player Handbook’. Many DMs might have ‘house rules’ that they use, which could deviate from the official rules (RAW). House rules might cover things like crits, or the ‘rule of cool’. Which brings me onto my next two examples…

Crits. It finally happens. You’re in combat and you roll a natural 20. The joy. The pride. The happiness you feel picturing the damage you are going inflict on your opponent. But what exactly does it mean? Well, a ‘crit’ means a critical hit. You might score a 20 total if you roll well and add your modifier (often call a dirty 20) but only if you roll a 20 on the dice will it be counted as a nat 20.

DMs will often use the RAW rule that when you crit, you roll the damage dice twice, (or sometimes just double the total) and then add your attack modifier. But some DMs have different rules for crits, like rolling once and then adding the maximum possible damage for the die rolled. For example, with a longsword that deals 1d8 +3 damage, you would roll a d8, then add 8 (the maximum possible roll) to the number rolled, and then add the +3. However a crit is calculated, getting one is always fun.

And next, the ‘rule of cool’. Your DM might announce at the start of a game or a campaign that they’re playing with the ‘rule of cool’. This basically means that if you want to do something really cool, the DM will try to make it happen, even if it veers slightly outside the rules. It helps encourage players to be inventive with their roleplay (or RP, to use the acronym for roleplay), and rewards imagination. DMs are legends.

Another acronym you might see online is BBEG. This stands for Big Bad Evil Guy, and it refers to the final powerful villain that you meet at the climax of the campaign. The final boss, if you’re a video gamer.

Unsure if you’re a PC or an NPC? Well, a PC is a ‘player character’, and that refers to a character played by a player in a game. An NPC is a ‘non player character’. These are the characters played by the DM, that players will meet and interact with during a game.

Have I covered everything? No, of course not. But those are the basics. Go forth and play!